Almost seven years after making the board-based Class-X exams an optional under the CCE system, the governing body of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has on Tuesday unanimously decided to rollback to the earlier system of conducting board-based Class-X exams for every institution. The decision of the CBSE will come into effect from March 2018, when the first exam for the Class-X students takes place.

The CBSE has in 2011, introduced the system of Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) which gave an option for the students studying in Class X to sit for the school-based exams. However, there has been an increased criticism over the CCE system which was introduced by the then Education Minister Kapil Sibal.

Following the public pulse, the CBSE has conducted a survey to note the opinion of various stakeholders associated with the Secondary School Education. The result of the survey, which the CBSE announced on Tuesday, was in favor of conducting a mandatory Class X public exam to facilitate the proper identification of talent and reduce corruption in schools.

Announcing the rollback from the CCE system, Chairman of the CBSE, Mr. R K Chaturvedi said “Institutions from the States, academic Teachers, Principals and even the State governments had a say in the survey conducted by the CBSE. A majority of them have opted for a Class X public exam. The same has been discussed among the members of the CBSE governing body and it has been decided to go with the earlier system of board-based Class-X exams”.

The Chairman said that the decision of the board was communicated to the ministry of Human Resource Development and that an official notification to this effect will be shared with schools. According to the guidelines released by the CBSE, the board-based exams for Class-X students will be implemented from March 2018 and the weightage division will be 80% board based and 20% based on Internal assessments.